


Confidant

by edgelordjonesthethird



Series: The Serpent Princess [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Background Bughead, Demisexual Jughead Jones, F/F, F/M, Jopaz brotp, Male-Female Friendship, Toni Topaz is a fairy godmother, background choni, bughead love though, jopaz friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-04 05:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14585604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgelordjonesthethird/pseuds/edgelordjonesthethird
Summary: They were never destined to be lovers, but maybe something deeper than that.





	Confidant

**Author's Note:**

> I love the Jopaz BROTP or the idea of it, that is until 2A butchered it and made Toni Topaz a plot device but I think their friendship is beautiful.
> 
> I must warn you I make mentions of their hook-up, though.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I

                If he were wired like other guys the first thing Jughead Jones would have noticed about Toni Topaz was her tight little body and gorgeous face; he made note, sure, that she was indeed aesthetically pleasing, however, she was no Betty Cooper in his eyes and nobody could be. However, he would admit he was intrigued, not by her tight little body and gorgeous face, but her affinity for literature, the camera, and serial killer references. To him she was simply a pal, one of his few adversaries on the Southside.

                Toni Topaz, however, was wired like most girls; she did notice Jughead Jones lean body and handsome face; she wasn’t blind, much like most girls in that town.  Over his time at Southside High she did develop a small attraction to the boy, that is until the evening she walked into the Blue and Gold and watched as a beautiful blonde dominated him. Betty Cooper, she seemed too sweet for him, like somebody who she could make Jughead forget so easily; so she continued to flirt and even developed a crush on him, nothing serious.

                However, it was the night of the Gauntlet, he was bleeding and bruised but his vulnerability seemed to radiate within. She leaned in kissed; one thing led to another soon they were in the back bedroom hands seemed to trail everywhere; as his hands moved down to trail over her breasts, she moved her hand to slip into the denim of his jeans; expecting to feel his hardened cock but she didn’t, he was softer than she had expected. Okay, he was completely flaccid, and it was in that moment with his muffled apology that she knew she was incomparable to Betty Cooper.

                The next day she declares they’re better off as friends, she could ignore the fact he wasn’t over Betty and why would he be? If it were a dead body rigamortis would have just set in, she internally slaps herself for taking advantage of his vulnerable state. She may not have a spot in his heart to be a lover but she can sure as hell be his friend.

**II**

                It’s midnight, the day after General Pickens head is returned, and Tall Boy has been exiled, both Betty and Jughead sneak off without goodbyes. Toni feels it in her gut, tonight is their night and she smirks to herself going back to the celebration before going home herself to study for the calculus test the next morning when there is a knock on the door. In nothing but a tiny pair of shorts and tank top she grabs her blade and makes her way to the door, nobody decent would be at her door past ten and she was alone.

                However, when Toni swings the door open she was greeted by Jughead who looks forlorn, not that it wasn’t his usual look; but he looked full on distraught with his hat crooked from obviously toying with it. She would have wanted to tease him about his suit and tie to break the tension but he had changed, so instead she just frowned and widened the door for him; he quickly stepped in and shut the door behind him.

                Before a greeting could be made he. “Am I bad at… _stuff_?” he blurted out, nervously.

                “You have to be specific, Jones, because there is indeed a lot of stuff you are bad at.” Toni quipped and took a seat on the worn leather couch.

                “We fooled around…was I terrible?” Jughead muttered, his cheeks tinging red.

                Toni raised a brow and tucked her feet underneath herself.  “We just weren’t compatible, Jones, so no I didn’t find the experience enjoyable, why?” she titled her head. “Cooper, finally pop your cherry?”

                “We…”  A blush tinges Jughead’s cheeks. “Yeah, and then I called and she hung up on me, what if I was so bad she never wants to talk again…or…or…”

                Toni held a tiny hand up to him. “Jones, that girl loves you, she would never just because the experience wasn’t completely Kosher because let me let you in on a little secret, it rarely is for the girl, it doesn’t feel that great, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it and was probably just overwhelmed, just call her in the morning.” Toni insisted.

                Jughead nods slowly and fixes his beanie, his composure seems to come back. “Did I suck that bad with you?” He snorted, rubbing the back of his neck.

                “It felt like you were tuning a transistor radio and  I felt like I was trying to play pool with a rope.” Toni retorted, playfully.

**III**

                A loud bell and the familiar rumble of a motorcycle jolts Toni out of sleep; she looks around Thistle House, the deep red bedroom is bleary. She hears the redhead by her side mutter a string of obscenities probably lifted from the Victorian Era, and Toni can’t help put smile as she pulls on a silk robe and reflexively grabs her switchblade, even moving a safer neighborhood Toni can’t so easily squash all her habits that she was raised on with the Southside. She swings the heavy oak door open, and once again there stands Jughead, as he did three years prior.

                “You almost woke up Cheryl Blossom, that’s more dangerous than any Ghoulie.” Toni quips and steps aside to let Jughead in the house. “Why are you here so late, where are we hiding the body?”

                “Betty’s pregnant.” Jughead blurts out, ringing his hands together.

                Toni’s chest tightened, he was still on the verge of the twentieth birthday and here he was with another responsibility turning him into a thirty-five-year old before his time.  It wasn’t that Betty and Jughead wouldn’t be amazing parents, but Toni always saw both doing so much before that time.

                “A-are you sure it’s yours?” Toni stuttered and led him into the living room.

                Jughead glared at her and didn’t budge. “Of course, it’s mine, we’ve only ever been with each other.” He growled.

                Toni bit her lip. “Sorry, Jones, that question is just like reflex, what are you going to do?” Part of her hoped she would “take care of it” because she wants more for her friend than to stuck on the Southside with a girlfriend who is wandering around the Southside barefoot and pregnant; she and Betty weren’t the closest but she wanted more than for her too.

                Jughead shook his head. “She’s too far along, she’s already four months,” he inhaled, deeply. “There has to be a reason she didn’t tell me until she showed, that she has been picking fights, trying to push me away, what if she knows I will make a shit father and ruin the kid’s life and doesn’t want me there?”

                “Or maybe, she’s afraid of ruining your life, Jones,” Toni interjected suggestively.  “From what I can tell she thinks you hang the stars, and vice versa, a kid at our age is like wrench in everything, what about that book you sent out to the publisher, those include book tours and being away from home if it’s ever picked up getting to have an adventure out of Riverdale, a kid would just hold you back, ya know?”

                “She could never hold me back…” Jughead’s voice is ragged. “Never, ever, baby or no baby.”

                Toni placed a hand on Jughead’s shoulder. “Then you let her know that, Jones, she’s probably just as scared as you are, I mean what if the baby looks like you?” she teases, wryly.

                He leaves quietly and sends her a text the morning with a picture attached, a black and white blob that Jughead covets and keeps next to his bed and a caption that read “ _my daughter.”_

               

**V**

                Baby Girl Jones comes into the world, but she’s not kicking or screaming like her parents imagine; her parents meet her just short of Betty’s eighth month. The delivery is hard but done vaginally because the doctor’s say it’s better for the baby’s lungs and the baby comes out blue, Betty hemorrhages and loses consciousness; blood transfusions are needed and Julia needs to be resituated and intubated, there is only a thirty percent chance that she’ll make it.

                Betty is in recovery, they say she’ll be out for a while but she’ll pull through, however, there is a chance she won’t have anymore children.  Toni and Jughead stand at the window of the NICU where his daughter bakes, she is still too immune deficient for her father to even touch her, but that doesn’t mean he can rip his eyes off of her, Toni  doesn’t have anything to say, but she lends a tiny shoulder for comfort just in case; she doesn’t mind silence, she doesn’t feel the need to fill it and maybe that’s why she and Jughead have always gotten along so well.

                “She’s going to pull through,” Jughead sniffles, a stray tear running down his cheek. “She has to…I spent so long not wanting this moment, not wanting to be a dad, and now I want it more than anything.”

                Toni puts her hand on top of his, empty promises aren’t her thing. “We can only hope.” She whispers, hoarsely. “But you’re her father, so I think there is a good chance, and Betty is her mother, just two tough cookies that reproduced, so maybe it’s genetic?”

                Jughead smiles, despite the situation, it’s weak and looks like it hurts. “How do you do that?” he questions, rhetorically. “Always know the right thing to say to me?”

                Toni puffs out her cheeks, slowly pushing out the air. “When I met you, I thought I was destined to be your princess of the Southside, you and I would rule, we just seemed that compatible but a long time ago I also figured out I could never compare to Betty Cooper and I was okay with that because I always thought you and I had something deeper than a romantic love, we got certain things about one another and that’s nice to have which is more comfortable for the both of us because I have Cheryl, you have Betty and this baby…who I really hope you didn’t name Forsythe IV.”

                “Her name is Julia.” Jughead informs her, his gaze back on his baby girl “We wanted something that sounded like Juliet but figured that would be too cliched.

                “Maybe just a little.” Toni agrees. “And her middle name is Forsythe?”

                Jughead chuckles. “No, worse, it’s Antionette,” he updates.

                Toni’s eyes become the size of dinner plates. “You’re joking!” she cackles, earning a glare from an array of new mothers.

                This time Jughead isn’t laughing. “No, no, Betty and I wanted to give her a strong name so maybe one day she would be just as fierce as her godmother.”

                “Me, you want me?” This time her voice is cracking, she’s uncharacteristically verklempt.

                “Yeah, but don’t tell, Veronica.” He pleads.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Leave comments or suggestions for future ideas for this series.
> 
> Follow me!
> 
> Tumblr: edgelordjonesthethird.tumblr.com
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgelordjones


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